Issues: College Tuition

For as little as $100K, you can wear a gown...for a day

Episode 1: An Education in Debt

Whether she wants him to or not, Alexis's boyfriend Scott "Gov" Govinski is always there to "help" her.

College Costs vs. Median Incomes of College Graduates
College costs way more, but is worth way less.

It's no surprise that college is getting more expensive, but did you know that the increase in cost isn't keeping pace at all with what you can expect to get paid after you graduate?

While the total cost of going to college has doubled for public university students and increased 63% for private university students since 1991, female graduates have seen a mere 9% increase in incomes over the same time period, and the median income for male graduates actually decreased.

Sources:

The College Board, Annual Survey of Colleges; Trends in Student Aid 2014; calculations by the authors. Table 7, Average Net Price over Time for Full-Time Students, by Sector
The U.S. Census Bureau. Table P-16, Educational Attainment—People 25 Years Old and Over by Median Income and Sex

How is government affecting college tuition?

Well, it's:

Causing tuition to skyrocket by throwing more money into the equation, and reducing schools’ incentives to be efficient with your money.
Giving young people debt they can never, ever get rid of because of the special status of student loans. Those loans are now one of the largest sources of personal debt, outpacing car loans and credit card debt.
Encouraging young people to take on debt for degrees that won't help them get jobs.

People in government think it’s important that everyone have access to a college education, but their policies have led to rapidly increasing college costs. And their solution to that problem is making it easier for young people to take on tons of debt — a solution detrimental to students’ financial future while once again giving colleges no incentives to cut costs.

Check out these links to learn more: